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Cultural and political values to restore America's democracy

Economic Justice – Race

What Do We Really Know About Racial Inequality? Labor Markets, Politics, and the Historical Basis of Black Economic Fortunes By Cynthia Thaler, Alternet.org, January 18, 2013 – In 2011, the ratio of employed population to full population among racial groups was 51.7% for African Americans and 59.4% for whites, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That same year, the ratio between the median wealth (assets minus debts) of white households versus that of black households was the largest since the government started collecting such data in 1984, and approximately twice what it had been before the Great Recession of 2007–2009. The racial economic gap — also present in other measures of economic well-being, such as wage and unemployment gaps — has persisted over time in the United States……racial wage and employment disparities between blacks and whites since the 1940′s have been shaped by both market and non-market factors, including: racial discrimination; political and institutional factors such as social-movement mobilizations; shifting government policies; unionization efforts; and evolving public employment opportunities…“racial economic gains have relied most directly upon momentary shifts in political mobilization, state strategy, and union power rather than on secular trends in human capital or economic restructuring; yet these shifts (perhaps because they have been so momentary) often failed to sustain or build upon whatever gains have been achieved.”……Black voter turnout in 2012 was exceptionally high — and may for the first time have equaled that of whites among eligible voters– suggesting growing political clout, according to the Pew Research Center. A wide variety of contemporary academic literature has also focused on how traditional high-poverty U.S. urban areas are changing in complexion.

The Astonishing Collapse of Black and Latino HouseholdWealth ByAdam Hudson, AlterNet, May 31, 2013 …The Great Recession has increased racial inequality and set back the modest socioeconomic gains of the civil rights movement…while the racial wealth gap has existed for decades, it’s drastically expanded during the last 30 years….The 2007-2009 recession devastated the American economy and all families suffered decreasing wealth. However, African American and Latino families were hit the hardest… the racial wealth gap is not new. It has deep historical roots and current policies perpetuate and exacerbate it….Practices in employment and education also contribute to the racial wealth gap…